One of the great fears of Single Board Computer (SBC) venders is commoditization. Their nightmare scenario is a PC motherboard that sells for practically nothing because anyone can build one and they are all the same. They have been trying to capitalize on the ARM market with high-margin SBCs quickly while they were still considered special. They may already be too late.

Case in point: Gumstix. This is a seriously cool line of SBCs based on Intel ARM processors that starts (just barely) under $100 quantity one. These guys have a line of very small Linux-powered boards that have been used in a number of robotics applications, including tiny versions of military tactical Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs), as reported in an EE Times Article. I'm already finding myself imagining projects for these little guys.

This is the kind of board that has potential to reach large enough quantity to drive down the pricing curve even further and is a good example of the fact that ARM architectures are no longer considered scary. This good news for any number of embedded applications that can be built more easily as a result.

Larry Mittag